WO2023111363A1

WO2023111363A1 - Apparatus for additively manufacturing components

Info

Publication number: WO2023111363A1
Application number: PCT/EP2022/086814
Authority: WO
Inventors: Uwe Rothaug; Victor Romanov
Original assignee: Kurtz Gmbh & Co. Kg
Priority date: 2021-12-17
Filing date: 2022-12-19
Publication date: 2023-06-22
Also published as: DE102021133722A1; WO2023111363A9

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for additively manufacturing components, preferably by means of selective melting or sintering, in particular by means of a powder bed-based laser beam melting process, said apparatus having a control device. Modules of the apparatus for additively manufacturing components can be exchanged without any further set-up procedure, meaning that the apparatus for additively manufacturing components can be reconfigured quickly.

Description

Device for the additive manufacturing of components

The invention relates to a device and a method for the additive or generative manufacturing of components.

DE 102016 222 068 A1 discloses a device and a method for additive manufacturing of components with a plurality of spatially separate steel guides. A processing head has a number of optical switching elements, via which a number of beams can be directed to the target position. The processing head is slidably aligned on a linear axis. The linear axis is in turn mounted on a vertical linear axis so that it can be moved. This allows X-Y movement. The laser beam source or sources are mounted on the linear axis.

WO 2018/202643 A1 discloses a device for additive manufacturing by selective laser sintering. One or more lasers are associated with one or more laser heads. These lasers are distributed to the individual heads via the beam splitter. The heads can be moved on rails in the X and Y directions. The heads can be moved independently of each other. The light is supplied to the heads by mirrors.

US Pat. No. 10,399,183 B2 discloses an additive manufacturing method in which an optical head is supplied with a laser beam via a glass fiber. This means that several laser beams can be directed to the same head and exited in parallel. This allows parallel melting points on the surface of the powder bed.

A similar method is described in US Pat. No. 10,399,145 B2.

US 2015/0283612 A1, US 2014/0198365 A1 and JP2009-6509A disclose selective laser sintering apparatus which have a plurality of optical heads which can direct laser beams onto a powder bed. These heads cannot be moved in the X and Y directions themselves, but direct the laser beam to the appropriate positions via mirrors. The advantage here is that the location of the laser focal point can be changed quickly. In this case, however, the heads must be comparatively far away from the powder bed and can only illuminate a limited area. DE 10 053 742 C5, US Pat. Has cutting element.

US 2019/0009333 A1 discloses a device and a method for selective laser melting, a plurality of laser heads operating in parallel being provided for melting a material using powder-bed-based laser melting. Each of the laser heads is movable along a linear rail assembly, and the laser heads can be moved independently of each other. The array of laser heads and the powder bed surface can be rotated horizontally relative to each other.

US 2017/0129012 A1 describes a device and a method for the additive manufacturing of components, the device comprising a plurality of robotic arms, on each of which a deposition head and a laser head are attached adjacent to one another. The robot arms each include at least one rotary joint and are designed to move the deposition head and the laser head in all three spatial directions. In this way, material can be applied to a processing surface by means of the deposition head and this area can be melted directly afterwards with the laser.

From CN 106 312 574 A a device emerges, comprising equipment for additive manufacturing processes as well as for milling processes. The device essentially comprises a number of robotic arms, which can be equipped with gripping elements for preparing material on a work platform or for removing finished components, or with a laser head. The robot arms each have two joints and are thus rotatably and pivotably mounted. The device also includes a central production arm, which can be equipped with a laser head or a milling head. The central manufacturing space can be moved linearly along a rail device.

DE 10 2018 128 543 A1 has a laminating molding device in which two laser heads working in parallel are provided for melting a material according to a laminating molding process. Both laser heads are coupled to a rail device and can be moved linearly independently of one another. The rail device can also be moved. In this way, the processing area can be completely covered. The laser beam is guided to the processing area by a focusing unit using two mirror elements.

CN 206 065 685 U discloses a device and a method for 3D printing, with a laser for melting a starting material and a cutting laser for processing the manufactured structures are provided. The laser for melting a starting material and the cutting laser can be moved both horizontally and vertically independently of one another along a number of rail devices.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device and a method for the additive manufacturing of components, preferably by means of selective melting or sintering, which can be flexibly adapted to components with different dimensions.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device and a method for the additive manufacturing of components that are of simple design, allow a high manufacturing speed and with which 3D components can be manufactured with high precision.

One or more of these objects are achieved by a device having the features of independent patent claim 1 and by a method having the features of claim 15. Advantageous refinements are specified in the dependent claims.

According to the invention, a device is provided for the additive manufacturing of components, preferably by means of selective melting or sintering. This comprises at least one module with a processing head for directing a light beam onto a processing area, and a swivel arm on which the processing head is arranged, and a carriage on which the swivel arm is rotatably mounted, with the module being movable along a rail device, and a Control device in which module parameters can be stored that define predetermined properties of the module, the control device being set up and designed to control different modules based on the module parameters, so that modules can be exchanged in the device for additive manufacturing of components and these preferably without further setup procedure can be controlled by the control device.

The fact that the control device is set up and designed to control different modules based on the module parameters, modules can be exchanged for other modules or modules can be removed or added to change a configuration of the device for additive manufacturing, so that the device can be converted and adapted accordingly, for example for the production of large numbers of components or for the production of components in the shortest possible time or for the production of components with high quality.

Since the module parameters are or can be stored in the control device, the control device can control different modules and accordingly different configurations of the device for additive manufacturing with different modules are interchangeable. Despite these changes, the device is capable of driving the different modules or configurations of the additive manufacturing device.

Thus, the device according to the invention can be adapted arbitrarily or almost arbitrarily to a different number of components to be manufactured and to different requirements with regard to production time and quality, such as porosity or surface quality. In this case, the configuration should always be optimized in such a way that a large number of processing heads and/or very powerful processing heads are to be provided in the areas in which a large amount of material is applied.

The device according to the invention can therefore also be adapted to the geometry, in particular to material accumulations and corresponding sizes of surfaces or processing areas of a component to be produced additively.

In this way, the device according to the invention is extremely flexible and can be adapted to almost any production requirements within certain limits.

These different configurations allow the throughput to be increased significantly, since an individual configuration of the device for additive manufacturing can be optimized in terms of throughput. Conventional devices for additive manufacturing, especially those that have processing heads that can be moved by means of several slides, cannot be individually configured for the components to be manufactured, which means that there are areas in which little material is to be applied and there is overcapacity and in areas in which a lot material is to be applied, there is insufficient capacity.

This is explained in more detail below with reference to the technical features of the device according to the invention.

The module can include a processing head, a swivel arm with a processing head, a carriage with a swivel arm and processing head or also several swivel arms and processing heads, or a rail with one or more carriages and rails with a swivel arm and processing head or also several swivel arms and processing heads.

Furthermore, by replacing one or more modules, one or more of the following settings on the additive manufacturing device can be changed: - Rail devices at different positions, in particular at different distances from one another, in a process chamber,

- different rail facilities,

- different types of sleds,

- different types of swivel arms, especially with regard to degrees of freedom and/or length of the arms,

- a different number of processing heads per rail device, in particular a corresponding number of swivel arms and slides,

- Different types of processing heads, wherein the control device is set up and designed to control these components, so that the device for manufacturing different components and / or different areas of components can be converted accordingly.

Furthermore, a module can have an internal or an external identifier. An external identifier is an identifier read by an external reader used when installing the modules. An internal identifier is an identifier that is automatically read by a reader integrated in the additive manufacturing apparatus. An internal identifier can be implemented, for example, in the form of a barcode or an RFID chip or a type designation stored in a semiconductor memory. An external identifier can, for example, be in the form of a barcode or an RFID chip or the like. The identifier includes either the module parameters or a code with which automatic assignment to the module parameters is possible, whereby the corresponding module parameters are automatically loaded into the control device or when they already exist there can be selected automatically.

Different module parameters for different modules can be stored in the device, whereby the module parameters can be provided internally or externally, for example with an internal or an external database or online or in connection with the modules themselves or the like.

By providing a corresponding identifier for the modules, the device recognizes which modules are currently installed and what properties they have (e.g. length of the swivel arms or traversing speed or linear acceleration of the carriage or rotational acceleration and/or rotational speed of the swivel arms) in order to start with a different configuration or a different arrangement and / or number of modules to convert the device according to the processing requirements of a component to be produced.

The module parameters contain, for example, information about the length of the swivel arms, about the light intensity or the temperature of a processing head, in particular one processing head for melt application, and/or via a travel speed or an acceleration of the carriage and also via a possible arrangement of the rail device at a different height orthogonal to the construction platform in a Z-direction or also a distance between two rails parallel to the surface of a construction platform in X or Y direction included.

The controller may include two components. A control device is a production control device that controls the production process with a 3D printer or the device for additive manufacturing of components.

Another component of the control device is a planning control device, which creates one or more production schedules and/or one or more configurations of the 3D printer.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, a planning control device is provided for automatically generating a production flow chart for producing a specific component using a device for additively manufacturing components, in particular a device for additively manufacturing components as described above.

The planning control device is set up and designed to create at least one production sequence on the basis of CAD data or a construction plan of the component to be manufactured.

This planning control device is characterized in that the planning control device is set up and designed so that several production flow plans can be created in which different module parameters are used to configure the device for additive manufacturing of components, so that one of the production flow plans with regard to the parameter production times and/or quality can be selected.

This means that the planning control device can analyze the CAD data or the construction plan of a component to be manufactured. Based on this analysis, the configuration of the additive manufacturing device can then be adjusted by specifying certain modules.

Accordingly, the planning control device can perform an analysis of the component to be produced and output an optimum configuration for automatically generating a production flow chart for producing a specific component using an apparatus for additively manufacturing components.

Additionally and/or alternatively, the planning control device can also create several production processes with different configurations of modules on the basis of the CAD data and then automatically select a production process. The configurations used here are selected in advance by means of a plausibility check, since an exact analysis is sometimes very time-consuming and, moreover, different production processes with different configurations show different advantages, so that it is not possible to generally say which configuration and which production process is best. This depends on the respective use case. The material to be used can also be varied here, which leads to a further degree of freedom in analysis and optimization. The selection of the production flow chart can also be done manually on the basis of created production flow charts.

For automatic selection, the planning control device can be set up and designed to automatically select a production flow plan according to predetermined parameters.

For example, a short production time can be advantageous in the case of large quantities or high machine utilization, especially if the quality of the component to be produced is not high. This means that either modules with several or a large number of processing heads and/or long or short swivel arms can be provided. In addition, processing heads with different light intensities or outputs or which generate different temperatures in the powder bed can be provided in order to melt larger processing areas or smaller processing areas.

In principle, slower travel speeds for the carriages and, in particular, shorter swivel arms enable a higher product quality, whereas longer swivel arms and higher travel speeds enable a lower product quality.

The planning control device can also store which modules are available overall in the device in order to determine which module configurations are possible.

In this way it can be clearly determined which modules and how many modules or which module configuration is best suited for the production of a component.

The module parameters can include a different number and/or a different type of pivoting arms, in particular with regard to a length and/or a pivoting range, and a different type and positioning of rail devices in a process chamber, in particular with regard to an X or Y direction parallel to one Build platform and preferably in a Z-direction and thus a height orthogonal to the build platform and/or a different type of carriage, in particular with regard to structural design or geometry, or traversing speed, and/or a different type of processing head, in particular with regard to light intensity/power or temperature, and/or a different number of processing heads per rail device.

Furthermore, in the control device and in particular in the production control device or in the planning control device, different control parameters, including different travel speeds or accelerations for carriages and swivel arms and/or different printing speeds and/or different intensities or temperatures for the processing heads, can be stored which, based on the components used, in particular the modules of the device and/or can be selected automatically and/or manually based on construction plans for components and/or based on production flow charts or based on a production flow chart.

In particular, it can be provided that modules with a larger number of carriages per rail device have shorter pivoting arms, modules with a smaller number of carriages per rail device having longer pivoting arms.

It can preferably be provided that two or more rail devices can be moved together, in particular parallel to the construction platform and/or orthogonally to the construction platform.

This means that, for example, for areas or levels of components that have a large processing area, the rail devices are at a greater distance from one another parallel to the construction platform and these can then be moved closer to one another parallel to the construction platform in areas with a greater accumulation of material or a higher component density to arrange more machining heads in a specific area.

The rail devices can also be vertically movable in a Z-direction orthogonal to the construction platform, so that the corresponding swivel arms of adjacent modules are arranged one above the other in the Z-direction and do not collide during the movement. The pivoting arms can also be arranged at different heights on the carriages in order to avoid collisions between pivoting arms of adjacent carriages.

In a preferred embodiment, the length of a swivel arm of a module can be changed automatically by means of an adjustment device, for example by means of a linear drive. This change in length can, for example, only be carried out during pauses in which the configuration of the additive manufacturing device is changed, or can also be changed during normal operation. Such an automatic change can be made automatically for different shifts, with an individual configuration also being defined for the respective shifts or groups of shifts when the production flow plan is created, insofar as this can be changed automatically.

The modules can also be automatically interchangeable. For this purpose, the modules can be held in a module magazine and exchanged automatically with an exchange robot.

An automatic change can also be accomplished in combination with the automatic adjustment of the length of the pivoting arms or the automatic exchange of modules or as an alternative to this by automatically moving the rails on which the carriages are mounted.

By adjusting the length of a swivel arm, for example, long swivel arms can be changed into short swivel arms during operation (dynamically), so that when two rail devices of adjacent modules are arranged closer to one another, it is possible to prevent the processing heads or the swivel arms of the modules from touching. With short swivel arms, only a smaller area around the rail can be covered (coverage area). However, shorter swing arms allow more precise location setting compared to longer swing arms. In addition, at least two or more rails, on which short pivoting arms are mounted, can be arranged very closely adjacent to one another, as a result of which a high density of processing heads is provided.

The device can be converted accordingly for the production of different components and/or different areas of components by modules being removed, supplemented or completely exchanged.

According to the above, a different number of modules can be arranged in predetermined positions in the device. The modules can be connected to a power source and the control device and preferably a light source via coupling devices.

The device can have a process chamber, one or more construction platforms and at least one material supply device. In addition, at least one distance sensor for preferably electro-optical distance measurement can be provided in order to optically monitor the position of the processing heads in the X and/or Y direction parallel to the construction platform and/or in the Z direction orthogonal to the construction platform.

In this way it can be ensured that mutually adjacent machining heads do not come into contact during machining. Damage to the components of the device can thus be avoided safely and reliably.

Furthermore, according to the invention, a method is provided for calculating an optimal configuration of a device for the additive manufacturing of components, in particular a device shown above. Such a procedure includes the following steps:

Reading in CAD data of a component to be manufactured,

Determining the local labor requirements in each shift, and

Determining an optimal configuration according to a processing need of all layers of a component to be manufactured.

Thus, according to the invention, a simple method is provided in which only CAD data is read in and an optimal configuration of modules corresponding to a processing requirement of all layers is then determined on the basis of this CAD data.

In this way, a user only has to read in a CAD plan and it is then automatically output which modules a device must be equipped with in order to produce a component with an optimal configuration of modules in terms of quality and/or processing time and/or quantity. The device can then simply be converted accordingly.

An optimal configuration can be done by

A large number of processing heads is assigned to pressure areas with a large accumulation of material, and/or by

Pressure areas with a large accumulation of material are assigned short swivel arms, in particular in order to be able to arrange several processing heads in this area, and/or by pressure areas with small surfaces being assigned a small number of processing heads, and/or by

Pressure areas with small surfaces can be assigned long swivel arms.

With processing heads that are arranged on shorter pivoting arms, a higher level of accuracy and, accordingly, a higher quality of a component can be produced in this area. In addition, processing heads with shorter pivoting arms can be arranged in a higher density over a corresponding processing area or over corresponding processing areas.

Processing heads with longer swivel arms, on the other hand, enable a larger traversing range with regard to the construction platform and usually lead to a lower product quality, since these can be controlled less precisely.

Thus, by providing processing heads with longer pivoting arms, a larger processing area of the construction platform can be covered, so that fewer processing heads are required to produce a component.

Furthermore, according to the invention, a method for the additive manufacturing of components is provided, preferably by means of selective melting or sintering, in particular with a device shown above. The procedure includes the following steps:

Storage of module parameters, which define predetermined properties of a module, in a control device,

Controlling different modules by means of the control device based on the module parameters, in particular without any further setup procedure.

The advantages of this method correspond analogously to the advantages described above with reference to the device for the additive manufacturing of components.

In addition, according to the invention, a method is provided for generating a production flow plan for producing a specific component using a planning control device for a device for the additive manufacturing of components. The method includes the following steps: entering CAD data for the component to be manufactured,

Creating at least one production schedule using the optimization system based on the CAD data of the component to be manufactured,

Defining different configurations of the modules of the device for additive manufacturing of components, and on the basis of this,

Creating one or more production flow charts, the production flow charts being based on different module parameters of the device for the additive manufacturing of components, and

Selecting a production schedule based on production time or throughput and/or product quality, the production schedule and/or the configuration suitable or determined for this being output. The advantages of this method correspond analogously to the advantages described above with reference to the planning control device according to the invention.

Furthermore, a different configuration can cause a change in the modules and thus a change in the application speed in some areas, with this change in the application speed being based on a change in the arrangement or positioning of the processing heads and the processing areas assigned to them and/or a change in the number of processing heads in different areas based.

This can mean, for example, an arrangement of the processing heads and the processing areas assigned to them. This can also mean a different number or density of processing heads in different areas. In addition, a completely different module configuration and thus a different number and a different arrangement and/or the provision of different modules can also be provided.

Furthermore, the invention provides a device for the additive or generative manufacturing of components according to a further embodiment, preferably by means of selective melting or sintering, in particular by means of a powder bed-based laser beam melting method (LPBF; Laser Powder Bed Fusion), which has a control device. This device also operates in accordance with the principles of the present invention outlined above.

The device in turn comprises a plurality of processing heads for directing a bundle of light rays onto a processing area, with the processing heads each being arranged on pivoting arms which in turn are arranged on a carriage which can be moved along a rail device.

The present invention is characterized in particular by the fact that the control device is set up and configured to control the device with rail devices at different positions in a process chamber, and/or with different rail devices, and/or with different types of slides, and/or with different Types of swivel arms, in particular with regard to degrees of freedom and/or a length of the arms, and/or with a different number of processing heads per rail device, in particular with a corresponding number of swivel arms and carriages, and/or with different types of processing heads, so that the device for manufacturing different components and/or different areas of components can be converted accordingly. Due to the fact that the control device is set up and designed to be able to control different components of the device accordingly, a device for additive manufacturing is provided which adapts accordingly to the geometry, in particular to material accumulations and the corresponding sizes of the surfaces of a component to be additively manufactured leaves.

In this way, the device according to the invention is extremely flexible and can be adapted within certain limits to components of almost any size and design.

Within the scope of the present invention, different types of swivel arms mean that they can have different degrees of freedom and/or arms of different lengths. The degrees of freedom relate in particular to a pivoting radius or pivoting angle range of the pivoting arms.

Furthermore, the device can have a light source for generating a light beam, wherein the processing head or heads are either coupled to the light source with a beam guide, so that the light beam is guided to the processing head, or the light source is arranged directly on the processing head, so that a light beam from the Processing head can be directed to a processing area, wherein the processing head can be movably mounted so that the light beam can be directed to different locations in the processing area.

The processing heads can each be designed as print heads or smoothing heads.

In the context of the present invention, an additive manufacturing process is understood to mean the layered construction of a three-dimensional component using a powder bed, a powder feed or a wire feed, which serve as the starting material and are melted by means of a laser beam, electron beam or plasma or arc . Accordingly, the generative manufacturing processes mentioned in the introduction to the description (3D printing: melting and solidification (laser engineered net shaping (LENS), as direct metal deposition (DMD) or as laser additive manufacturing (LAM)), local sintering or melting, (laser - Sintering (SLS)), metal laser sintering (DMLS), metal laser sintering (IMLS), electron beam melting (EBM), powder bed-based laser beam melting, laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) or laser build-up welding) for Execution of the method provided.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a rail device with two or more carriages and one processing head per carriage forms a module, wherein a different number of modules can be arranged in predetermined positions in corresponding module receptacles in the processing area. By providing the appropriate module receptacles, the density of the modules can be increased or decreased in a specific area according to the size of a component and/or the accumulation of material in a component, in order to be able to additively manufacture a corresponding component quickly, effectively and with high quality.

The module receptacle can have a holder for receiving a rail device, which is preferably arranged on two diametrically opposite sides of the processing area.

Due to the fact that a corresponding holder is provided for accommodating a rail device, the corresponding modules can be inserted or coupled into the device in a simple manner and can be removed again just as easily.

Basically, a manual replacement of the modules of the device is provided. The holders can then have, for example, quick-release devices or the like for fixing the modules. Alternatively, however, an automatic exchange of the modules by means of a robot arm or exchange robot can also be provided, in particular if the device is used in larger production lines and if components with different dimensions are to be produced during ongoing production.

The rail devices are preferably all of the same or substantially the same design. As a result, the rail devices can be arranged and flexibly exchanged in each of the module receptacles or the corresponding holders. This can also be advantageous in series production, for example, when a module or a corresponding component of a module is only partially functional or no longer functional.

Two or four carriages can preferably be arranged on the rail devices. Within the scope of the present invention, however, it is also possible for at least two or three or four or a maximum of five or six or seven or eight or nine or ten processing heads to be arranged on a rail device.

The mounts for the module receptacles can be arranged at equal distances from one another. These are preferably arranged in a stationary manner in the device. According to an alternative embodiment, it can also be provided that two or more module receptacles are arranged on a corresponding traversing device in order to traverse two or more modules individually or together. A distance between two adjacent module receptacles is approximately 5 cm or at least 4 cm or 5 cm or 6 cm and a maximum of 7 cm or 8 cm or 9 cm or 10 cm or 15 cm or 20 cm or 25 cm or 30 cm.

The modules can thus be arranged in the module receptacles with the same and/or different distances.

The rail assemblies or modules are preferably spaced such that the coverage areas overlap from adjacent rail assemblies.

Furthermore, the modules can be interchangeable, different modules with different processing heads and/or a different number of processing heads and carriages being held in a magazine. Thus, the modules can be held in a type of tool changing device, which, as already shown above, can be exchanged preferably manually, but also automatically, for example by means of a robot device.

In addition, it can be provided that modules with a higher number of carriages have the corresponding processing heads with shorter pivoting arms, and modules with a smaller number of carriages have the corresponding processing heads with longer pivoting arms.

In this way, it is possible to provide a larger number of carriages with corresponding processing heads in areas of a component to be produced with a larger accumulation of material and/or a larger component surface without the corresponding pivoting arms interfering with one another or overlapping pivoting areas being formed.

Coupling devices can be provided on the modules and preferably also on the corresponding module receptacles, via which the modules are connected to a power source and the control device and preferably at least one light source.

One or more laser devices or light sources can be provided for generating a laser beam for all processing heads. The laser device can then be connected to each individual processing head, for example, with a light guide. Provision can be made here for a corresponding power line, optionally with a data line, to be arranged in the rail device or to form the rail device, so that the rail device can also be used to transport power.

Alternatively, a corresponding laser device can also be arranged directly on the respective processing head. Different travel speeds for the carriages and/or the swivel arms and/or different printing speeds and/or different temperatures for the processing heads can be stored in the control device, which are based on the components used, in particular the modules of the device and/or on the basis of construction plans of the Components can be selected accordingly automatically and/or manually.

In this way, the device according to the invention can be variably adapted to components with different dimensions and is flexible in its area of use.

Furthermore, the control device can be set up and designed to use blueprints for different components to select which components, in particular modules of the device, are required for production and these can then be displayed accordingly.

In particular, at least one distance sensor can be provided for preferably electro-optical distance measurement in order to optically monitor the position of the carriage and/or swivel arms and/or machining heads. This is described in more detail below.

The device can have at least one process chamber, at least one construction platform and at least one material feed device.

A corresponding feed device, for example a supply cylinder with an application device (squeegee), is preferably provided as the material feed device for a powder bed process. Alternatively, a wire feed could also be provided.

Furthermore, according to the invention, a method for calculating an optimal configuration of a printing device is provided. This procedure includes the following steps:

reading in component data,

Determining the local work requirements in the individual shifts and determining an optimal configuration according to the needs of all shifts or the additive manufacturing shifts of a component.

An optimal configuration is understood to mean a configuration in order to form a component on the basis of its geometry or its material accumulations.

With the method according to the invention, it is possible to use the component data to determine the local work requirement in the individual shifts. Then an optimal configuration according to the processing needs of all layers or a corresponding structure be selected in particular with regard to the components of the device in order to form the component as efficiently as possible. The appropriate modules are then selected for this purpose in order to be able to produce a component as quickly, safely and reliably as possible and with high quality.

The optimal configuration can be done by

A large number of processing heads are assigned to pressure areas with a large accumulation of material, and/or by

Pressure areas with a large accumulation of material short swing arms are arranged, and / or by

Printing areas with a large surface are assigned a large number of processing heads, and / or by

Pressure areas with a large surface can be assigned short swivel arms.

The machining heads can each be arranged on one of the carriages by means of a pivot arm that can be pivoted about a vertical pivot axis.

By providing several processing heads, several light beam bundles can be directed onto the processing area at the same time, so that several points in the processing area can be melted or sintered in parallel. The processing heads are arranged on or on a carriage and can be moved along a traverse or a rail device. This allows easy and reliable positioning of the processing heads over the processing area.

The machining heads are preferably each arranged on one of the carriages by means of a pivotable swivel arm. By providing such pivoting arms for the machining heads, which are preferably pivotable about a vertical pivoting axis and are arranged on a respective carriage, the machining heads can be quickly positioned at any point over a large section of the machining area. This section extends around the rail device, along which the respective carriage with the respective machining head can be moved in an area around the pivot axis of the pivot arm, which extends on both sides by a width that corresponds to the length of the pivot arm. This section is thus in the form of a strip around the rail devices with a width which corresponds to approximately twice the length of the swivel arms. This strip-shaped section is referred to below as the coverage area, since the processing heads, which are arranged on the carriage of a rail device, can be arranged at any position within the coverage area and thus the processing area with a light beam bundle at any point in the coverage area can apply or cover. The swivel arms can only be designed to swivel around the vertical axis. Such a configuration is very simple compared to multi-axis robotic arms. Nevertheless, the processing heads can be positioned very quickly and precisely, and the parallel processing achieves a high throughput.

The swivel arms can be designed with a length of, for example, at least 5 cm, preferably at least 10 cm or at least 15 cm, and in particular at least 20 cm. The longer the swing arms, the wider the coverage areas.

It can be expedient to position the machining heads only in a limited angular range of the pivoting arms, because the more the pivoting arms pivot the machining head away from the rail device, the more imprecise the position of the machining head becomes in the direction parallel to the rail device. The angular range can be limited, for example, to a maximum pivoting angle with respect to the rail device of a maximum of 60° or a maximum of 45°. With a maximum swivel angle of 45°, the width of the coverage area is reduced to the length of the swivel arm.

The beam guidance for the respective bundle of light beams can be formed along the swivel arms by means of reflector elements. This allows for very light swivel arms that have a low rotational moment of inertia so that they can be quickly swiveled to any rotational position.

The swivel arms are preferably made of plastic, in particular made of fiber-reinforced plastic. A mirror can be provided at each end remote from the pivot axis of the pivot arm for directing the respective light beam onto the processing area.

The beam guides can be designed at least partially as light guides. The light conductor can extend from the light source to the respective processing head. However, the respective light guide can also be guided only from the light source to the pivoted end of the respective swivel arm and be arranged there with its end in such a way that the light beam couples into a beam guide along the swivel arm, which is formed by means of reflector elements. Such an embodiment has the advantage that the swivel arm can be rotated through 360° or more without the light guide having to be rotated. The end of the light guide, at which the light from the light guide is coupled into the beam guide on the swivel arm, can be arranged stationary with respect to the carriage on which the swivel arm is attached.

The end of the light guide can alternatively be arranged stationary on the swivel arm in such a way that the light beam bundle is emitted in the direction of the free end of the swivel arm, preferably parallel to the swivel arm. At the free end of the swivel arm, a reflector element can be provided for directing the respective bundle of light beams onto the processing area, such as a deflection mirror, for example.

The reflector element can be a parabolic mirror or a mirror with a free-form surface for focusing the light, so that no optical lens is required in the beam path.

The rail devices on which the carriages are movably mounted can be arranged in a stationary manner via the holders of the module receptacles. This is particularly advantageous in connection with an embodiment with machining heads arranged on swivel arms, since such a stationary arrangement can be controlled much more easily to avoid collisions between different swivel arms than with a device in which the swivel arms can be swiveled and the carriages can be moved along the rail devices and the rail devices themselves can be moved transversely to their longitudinal direction. In addition, with a stationary arrangement of the rail devices and pivoting arms on the carriages, complete coverage of the machining area can be achieved with a few rail devices, provided that the pivoting arms are not too short. Since the processing heads arranged at the free ends of the swivel arms can be designed very easily, for example only with a small mirror, even with longer swivel arms with a length of, for example, at least 10 cm, preferably at least 15 cm, and in particular at least 20 cm low rotational moment of inertia can be achieved.

At least two slides that can be moved independently of one another are preferably mounted on each rail device, with each slide having a processing head. More than two carriages, for example three or four carriages, can also be provided per rail device.

A plurality of light sources are preferably provided, each of which is assigned to one or more processing heads. The light sources are preferably lasers, in particular CO2 lasers or ND:YAG lasers. CO2 lasers are mainly used for melting or sintering of plastic powder ND:YAG lasers for melting or sintering of metal powder. Such a CO2 laser has, for example, a light output of 30 W to 70 W and an ND:YAG laser of 100 W to 1,000 W and more. The light sources can also be light-emitting diodes, in particular super-luminescent light-emitting diodes, and/or semiconductor lasers.

By providing several light sources and several processing heads, which can be positioned independently of one another in the processing area, it is possible for powder to be melted or sintered at several points in the processing area at the same time in order to create a 3D produce component. This simultaneous melting or sintering of the powder increases the production speed of the generative production with the present device compared to conventional devices. Even if the processing heads remain at the individual points a little longer, a high production speed can be achieved. This makes it possible for light sources with a comparatively low light output to be used. This significantly reduces the cost of the device.

A multiplexer can be provided for distributing the bundle of light rays from one of the light sources to different beam paths. Such a multiplexer is preferably useful in the case of very intense light sources with which the powder can be melted or sintered with short pulses. The device preferably has a powder bed in the processing area, in which powder can be located, which is selectively melted by means of the light beam bundle.

The powder can be metal powder or plastic powder.

The individual swivel arms can be arranged at different heights in order to avoid collisions when moving the swivel arms.

The individual light sources can be designed in such a way that they emit light beam bundles with different frequencies or different frequency ranges and/or different intensities. This allows the selective melting or sintering process to be controlled individually. This allows, for example, control of the porosity of the product manufactured with it.

The bundles of light beams can also be focused to different degrees on the processing area. The focus can be set, for example, by means of a lens and/or a height adjustment of the processing heads.

With the device according to the invention, powder in a powder bed can be melted or sintered at several points at the same time.

An inert gas atmosphere, in particular a nitrogen and/or argon atmosphere, can be formed in the entire device. By using an inert gas atmosphere, oxidation of the powder or the component can be prevented during component manufacture. When forming and maintaining the inert gas atmosphere, it is possible to easily filter dirt particles out of the interior of the device.

Optics, in particular zoom optics, are preferably provided in order to change the focusing of the emitted light beam. The focusing of the light beam can be done in a simple way Way to be adjusted to different distances to the processing area. At the same time, the energy input and the irradiated area can be changed by a targeted focus setting.

According to a further aspect of the invention, at least one distance sensor is provided for preferably electro-optical distance measurement. The distance sensor can be arranged on or on the movable component and can measure the distance to another object or the distance between the sensor and the other object. However, it is also possible for the distance sensor to be arranged on another object and to measure the distance from the movable component. In this way, the distance between the moving component and another object can be measured and determined at any time. The data recorded by the distance sensor or sensors are processed accordingly by the control device according to the invention.

The distance sensor is preferably arranged in a stationary manner in order to measure the distance between the sensor and the movable component. In this way, the distance between a fixed point and the moving component can be measured and determined at any time. The movable component can have a reference object, with the distance sensor detecting the reference object and measuring the distance to the reference object. For example, a reflector, in particular a prism reflector, can be used as a reference object. The distance sensor can be pivotable in order to be able to be aligned with the reference object.

The distance can be measured by means of triangulation and/or measurement of the phase position and/or measurement of the propagation time. A laser beam is emitted when measuring the distance by measuring the phase position. The phase shift of the reflected laser beam or its modulation compared to the emitted beam depends on the distance. This phase shift can be measured and used to determine the distance traveled. The distance measurement by measuring the phase position has a high level of accuracy. With laser triangulation, a light beam is focused on the measurement object and observed with a camera located next to the sensor, a spatially resolving photodiode or a CCD line. If the distance between the measurement object and the sensor changes, the angle at which the point of light is observed also changes, and with it the position of its image on the photo receiver. The distance of the object from the laser projector is calculated from the change in position with the help of angle functions. Distance measurement using triangulation is simple, inexpensive and yet very precise. When measuring the transit time, a light pulse or a modulated light beam is emitted. Travel time is the time it takes for the light beam to travel from the source to a reflector, usually a retroreflector, and back to the source. By measuring this transit time, the distance between the source and the object can be determined using the speed of light. As an alternative or in addition, sensors that scan lines or areas or planes can also be used to measure the distance spatial measurements, such as stereo cameras for three-dimensional localization of one or more objects. Corresponding sensors do not have to be pivotable due to their large recording area.

Instead of optical sensors, other sensors such as ultrasonic sensors or sensors that determine the distance using the propagation time of radio waves can also be used.

The control or the control and regulation device can thus be designed in such a way that the movable component can be moved into a desired position depending on the measured distance between the distance sensor and the movable component. The use of distance sensors together with a control and regulation enables the use of an inexpensive and particularly light movement device for moving the movable component or the carriage. A low-cost and lightweight movement device has low positioning accuracy, but can be moved particularly quickly. The position of the movable component can be regulated depending on the distance between the movable component and the distance sensor. The more the moving component approaches its target position, the slower the component can be moved. In this way it can be ensured that the movable component can reach the target position exactly. The movement device can be designed in a simple and, above all, light and inexpensive manner, since the precision of the movement and positioning is ensured by the distance measurement and the regulation in a closed control loop. Proportional controllers, so-called P controllers, proportional-integral controllers, so-called PI controllers, and/or proportional-integral-derivative controllers, so-called PID controllers, can be used as controllers in the control loop.

Two, preferably three, distance sensors can be provided for distance measurement between the distance sensors and the movable component in order to determine the spatial position of the movable component. If the movable component is only moved in one plane, i.e. in two dimensions, its position can be determined exactly by measuring the distance using two distance sensors. By measuring three distances between the movable component and three fixed distance sensors, the spatial position of the movable component can be precisely determined in three dimensions. If the movable component is only moved in one direction, one sensor for distance measurement can also be sufficient.

In a preferred embodiment, more than three distance sensors and at least two moving components are provided, with each moving component being able to be detected in any position by at least three distance sensors for distance measurement. A distance sensor can be used to measure the distance between itself and the two moving components become. Depending on the positions of a first movable component, a distance sensor can be covered by this first movable component in such a way that a distance measurement to a second movable component is not possible. In such a case, the distance can be measured using another distance sensor that has direct optical access to the second movable component. This makes it possible to use different or the same distance sensors for each position determination of a movable component by distance measurement.

The distance sensors can be arranged in a stationary manner in the device, for example connected to the foundation of the device via a carrier. The distance sensors can determine the position of the surface of the powder bed via a distance measurement and then determine the position of a moving component, for example a processing head, with the help of a further distance measurement. Depending on the position of the powder bed, ie the height of the powder bed, the processing head can be moved into a target position in order to set the required distance between the processing head and the surface of the powder bed. One or more machining heads can be moved to their desired position with the aid of the control and regulation device described above. It is also possible that one or more distance sensors are connected to a processing head or arranged on it and the distance between the processing head and the powder bed surface is determined in order to then move the processing heads to a target distance from the surface of the powder bed.

Instead of the position of one or more processing heads, the position of a rail device or another component of a movement direction, for example a carriage, can also be determined and positioned relative to the surface of the powder bed. For this purpose, one or more distance sensors can be connected directly to the rail device and measure the distance to the surface of the powder bed.

A squeegee can also be positioned in the same way, for example relative to the powder bed surface. For this purpose, at least one distance sensor can be connected to the squeegee or arranged in a stationary manner in the device.

Each movable component can be permanently assigned three distance sensors for distance measurement. The same three distance sensors can be associated with the same moving component for each distance measurement. However, it is also possible for the distance sensors to be reassigned to a component for each distance measurement. In this way, for each new distance measurement, each movable component can be assigned partially or completely different distance sensors than for a previous distance measurement. The embodiments of the invention described above can be combined with one another as required. The aspects of the invention described above are not limited to the combinations of inventive features specified by the selected paragraph formatting.

Further features of the present invention result from the following description of the invention with reference to the drawings and the drawings themselves. All features described and/or illustrated form the subject matter of the present invention, either alone or in any combination, regardless of their summary in the claims or their reciprocal relationships.

The present invention is described in more detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment shown in the figures. These show in

FIG. 1 shows a schematic side view of a device according to the invention for additive manufacturing,

FIG. 2 shows a schematic plan view of the device for additive manufacturing, and

FIG. 3 shows a method for creating a production flow chart schematically in a flow chart.

According to one embodiment, a device for the additive manufacturing of components is provided. This is briefly referred to as a “3D printer” 1 in the present.

The 3D printer 1 includes a closed process chamber 2.

A production device 3 and a storage device 4 are arranged adjacent to one another in the process chamber 2 .

The storage device 4 comprises a storage container 5 in which a powder 6 is stored. A bottom wall 7 of the storage container can be moved in the vertical direction by means of a storage piston-cylinder unit 8 . In this way, the powder 6 stored in the storage container can be transported upwards in the vertical direction.

The production facility 3 has a construction platform 9 . The construction platform 9 can also be moved in the vertical direction by means of a production piston-cylinder unit 10 . Furthermore, the 3D printer 1 has a squeegee 11 with which the powder 6 can be applied from the storage device 4 in the horizontal direction 23 to the construction platform 9 of the production device 3 . A powder bed 12 can be formed on the construction platform 9 in this way.

In the area of the construction platform 9, three modules 13 arranged parallel to one another in a plan view from above are provided in the present exemplary embodiment.

Such a module 13 comprises a rail device 14, a plurality of carriages 15 with corresponding processing heads 16, the processing heads 16 being connected to the carriages via pivoting arms 17.

The modules 13 are fixed via corresponding module mounts 18 . In order to fix the modules 13 in the module mounts 18, the module mounts have corresponding holders 19.

The carriages 15 have drive devices (not shown) with which the carriages 15 and thus the machining heads 16 can be moved along a longitudinal direction 20 of the rail devices.

The slides 15 and the machining heads 16 are connected to a control device 22 via a coupling device 21 .

Different travel speeds for the carriages 15 and/or the swivel arms 16 and/or different printing speeds and/or different temperatures for the processing heads 17 can be stored in the control device 22, which are based on the components used, in particular the modules 13 of the device 1 and/or can be selected automatically and/or manually based on blueprints of the components to be manufactured.

The control device 22 comprises two components, a production control device 24, which controls the production process with the 3D printer 1, and a planning control device 25, which creates one or more production flow charts and/or one or more configurations of the 3D printer 1.

The planning controller 25 executes a process for creating a production schedule (Figure 3) beginning with step S1. In step S2, a construction plan in the form of CAD data is read.

In step S3 the blueprint is broken down into layers that correspond to the layers with which the component can be produced in the 3D printer 1 .

In step S4, coherent material areas that contain material of the component are determined in the individual layers. Material areas that are close together can be combined to form a common material area. This combining of the material areas within a layer takes place according to a cluster method, which is why these combined material areas can also be referred to as layer clusters.

In step S5, the individual points of the material areas are assigned sintering steps with a specific processing head 16 in each case. This assignment takes place according to predetermined rules, with several processing points lying next to one another preferably being processed in succession. These rules may differ. Machining principles take place, such as those from the not yet published German patent application DE 10 2022 107 263.0, in which the material is sintered line by line, with the lines initially being produced at a distance from one another, after a certain time also the area between the spaced sintered lines if this corresponds to the blueprint. If a sintering processing step is assigned to all material points in all layers, then the production flow plan is complete and the method ends with step S6.

This method explained above can be modified according to the invention such that after step S4 a step S4a is carried out, with which a value is assigned to the connected material regions or layer clusters, which corresponds to the amount of material contained therein. The amount of material is proportional to the number of sinter processing steps required to create this area. A sintering step is irradiation with a laser beam beam for a certain period of time or cycle time. The irradiation can also take place continuously, with each irradiation duration for a cycle time representing a separate sintering processing step.

The need for sintering processing steps can thus be assigned to the individual areas. This requirement is a type of optimization weight, which indicates whether more or fewer processing heads 16 should be assigned to the respective area. These optimization weights are calculated for each layer and assigned to a specific material area or layer cluster. In a step S4b, the material regions or layer clusters lying one above the other are clustered in the vertical direction (=Z-direction), wherein the individual material regions or layer clusters lying one above the other do not have to match exactly. The optimization weights are averaged for the individual clusters, so that a requirement for processing heads 16 can then be assigned to the respective cluster areas on the basis of the averaged optimization weights.

In step S4c, an optimized configuration of the 3D printer is calculated on the basis of the respective requirement assigned to the clusters, with the number of processing heads 16 being distributed as equally as possible proportionally in accordance with the averaged optimization weights.

The subsequent steps S5 and S6 are then carried out with this configuration.

Another optimization method can also be used to determine an optimal configuration according to steps S4a to S4c.

In a further modification of the invention, several groups of layers are clustered separately, with an individual optimal configuration of the 3D printer then being determined within a group of layers. Such an optimization of several groups of layers is particularly useful if the configuration of the 3D printer 1 can take place automatically, for example by the rail devices 14 being automatically movable and/or the pivoting arms 17 being automatically length-adjustable and/or the Modules are automatically interchangeable. When executing the production flow plan, this means that the groups of layers are each printed with a specific configuration in the 3D printer 1, with the printing process being briefly interrupted after each group of layers in order to change the configuration, for example by the rail devices are moved according to the new configuration and/or the lengths of the swivel arms are automatically adjusted and/or the modules are exchanged automatically or manually.

In a further alternative embodiment, an individual configuration can be provided in each layer, i.e. the position of the rail devices 14 and/or the length of the pivoting arms 17 can be changed in each layer. In this embodiment, one can also consider the changing of the position of the rail assemblies 14 and the changing of the length of the swing arms 17 as an integral part of the changing of the position of the processing heads 16 in the process chamber 2 above the powder bed 12 .

The production control device 24 controls the production process according to the predetermined production flow chart. Here, as is generally known from 3D printing, components are built up in layers, with one or more laser beams being directed onto the Powder bed 12 are directed to melt powder 6 contained therein. The movements of the processing heads 16 and the switching on and off of the corresponding lasers as well as the application of powder layers in the powder bed 12 are controlled according to the production flow plan.

If the 3D printer 1 is configured automatically, this is also controlled by the production control device 24 . Here, the rail devices 14 can be moved automatically and/or the length of the pivoting arms 17 can be changed automatically and/or the modules 13 can be automatically exchanged, which are preferably held in a module magazine (not shown).

A corresponding exchange robot can be provided for exchanging the modules 13 , in which case the modules 13 preferably each comprise a carriage 15 with a swivel arm 17 and a processing head 16 .

The modules 13 are designed in such a way that they can be easily decoupled from the rail device 14 by the replacement robot and replaced with another module 13 that is coupled to the rail device 14 . The position of an exchanged module 13 is calibrated, for example, by moving the module 13 to an end position on the corresponding rail device 14, at which the module 13 strikes against a predetermined stop.

Driving different modules by means of the control device based on the module parameters without any further setup procedure.

Defining different configurations of the modules of the device for additive manufacturing of components, and on the basis of this, Creation of several production flow charts, the production flow charts of different module parameters of the device for additive manufacturing of components being defined, and selection of a production flow chart based on production time and/or product quality and/or quantity, the production flow chart and the configurations suitable for this being output.

Furthermore, a different configuration can cause a change in the components, in particular the modules, a change in the application speed in some areas, with this change in the application speed causing a change in the arrangement or positioning of the processing heads and the processing areas assigned to them and/or a change in the number of processing heads in different areas.

This can mean, for example, an arrangement of the pushbuttons of the processing heads and the processing areas assigned to them. This can also be a different number or

mean density of printheads in different areas. In addition, a completely different module configuration and thus a different number and a different arrangement and/or the provision of different modules can also be provided.

reading in component data,

With the method according to the invention, it is possible to use the component data to determine the local work requirement in the individual shifts. An optimal configuration can then be selected according to the processing requirements of all layers or a corresponding structure, in particular with regard to the components of the device, in order to form the component as efficiently as possible. The appropriate modules are then selected for this purpose in order to be able to produce a component as quickly, safely and reliably as possible and with high quality.

The optimal configuration is done by

A large number of processing heads are assigned to pressure areas with a large accumulation of material, and/or by Pressure areas with a large accumulation of material short swing arms are arranged, and / or by

Pressure areas with a large surface can be assigned short swivel arms.

Further advantageous configurations of the present invention are shown below.

The rail devices 14 are arranged parallel to one another. In the present exemplary embodiment, three rail devices 14 are provided (FIG. 1, FIG. 2). The middle rail device 14 is arranged somewhat higher than the two outer rail devices 14 .

The carriages 15 are controlled by the control device and can be moved automatically along the respective rail device 14 by means of a drive device. A drive device can comprise a drive belt driven by an external motor, which is coupled to the respective carriage 15 . However, a drive mechanism such as a drive wheel driven by a motor can also be provided in the carriage 15 itself. In principle it is also possible to drive the carriage by means of a linear motor.

The swivel arm 16 is arranged on the carriage 15 by means of a swivel joint. The swivel arm 16 is rotatably mounted with the swivel joint, preferably about a vertical swivel axis. A stepper motor is provided on the carriage 15 for rotating the swivel arm 16 about the swivel axis. The machining head 17 is provided at the end of the pivot arm 16 remote from the pivot axis.

This is formed by an end of a light guide and an optical lens arranged at the end of the light guide. The processing head 17 is arranged in such a way that a light beam bundle guided in the light guide is emitted vertically downwards.

The light guide is formed from a flexible optical fiber. The optical fiber can be, for example, a glass fiber or a polymer optical fiber.

The light guide leads to a light source which is arranged at a distance from the swivel arm 18 . The light source is preferably a laser, in particular a CO2 laser or an ND:YAG laser or a fiber laser. The light source can also be a semiconductor laser or a light-emitting diode, in particular a super-luminescent light-emitting diode. An array of light sources can also be provided, which has a light source for each processing head.

Further embodiments of the swivel arm are explained below, which are designed in exactly the same way as the embodiment described above, unless otherwise stated.

In an alternative embodiment of the swivel arm 16, the light source is arranged together with the optical lens directly at the end of the swivel arm 17 remote from the swivel axis in such a way that a light beam can be emitted vertically downwards.

According to a further embodiment, a beam is guided from the light source to the carriage 15 by means of a light guide and along the swivel arm 16 by means of reflector elements. In the present exemplary embodiment, the reflector elements are each designed as mirrors. However, they can also be represented by other optical elements that deflect a light beam, such as prisms or the like.

The swivel joint has a vertically running through-opening or through-hole. Adjacent above the through hole the end of the light guide 26 remote from the light source is arranged together with a coupling lens so that the light beam generated by the light source is transmitted through the light guide and from there is coupled into the through hole of the pivot joint. A first reflector element is arranged below the through-hole and deflects the light beam in such a way that the light beam is directed in the direction of the free end of the swivel arm. The second reflector element, which deflects the bundle of light rays vertically downwards, is arranged on the free end of the pivot arm remote from the pivot axis. Optionally, an optical lens for bundling the light beam can be provided in the beam path between the end of the light guide, which is arranged adjacent to the swivel joint, and the second reflector element. Instead of the optical lens 30, a lens can also be provided, with which the degree of bundling of the light beam can be changed.

The first and/or second reflector element can be shaped in such a way, for example as a parabolic mirror or free-form mirror, that it bundles the reflected light. As a result, it is not necessary to arrange an optical lens in the beam path, or an optical lens with a low refractive power can be provided in the beam path.

When the processing head 17 is moved by means of the swivel arm 16 , the light guide is only moved along the rail device 14 with its end arranged in the carriage 15 . The swivel arm 16 can perform a rotary movement that has no influence on the position of the light guide. This makes it possible for the swivel arm 16 to have one or more complete Can perform revolutions without thereby affecting the functionality of the light guide is affected because it is not taken with such a rotary movement of the swivel arm.

With such an arrangement, a large number of processing heads 17 can be provided, each by means of a swivel arm on a carriage 15 that can be moved along the rail devices 14, with it being ensured that the individual light guides cannot become tangled with one another. This makes it easy to create a 3D printer 1 which has at least eight, preferably at least twelve and in particular at least sixteen processing heads, all of which can be subjected to a light beam bundle simultaneously or quasi-simultaneously.

The light sources can generate the light beam in continuous operation (cw) or in pulsed operation (pw). In the case of a pulsed light source 25 with a high light intensity, it can also be expedient to assign a light source to several processing heads, in which case a multiplexer is arranged between the light source and the respective processing heads, so that the light beam bundle generated by the light source is clearly assigned to one which is fed to several processing heads. The change between the individual processing heads can take place so quickly that the change is so quick compared to the melting or sintering process that the individual processing heads 13 coupled thereto can be regarded as being acted upon more or less simultaneously by a light beam.

A further embodiment of the swivel arm has a pumped laser with a light pump and a resonator as the light source, which are connected to one another via a light guide 34 . The resonator comprises an active medium, which preferably consists of a solid body and which is excited or pumped by means of the pumped light emitted by the light pump.

The resonator, together with the optical lens, is arranged directly at the end of the swivel arm 17 remote from the swivel axis in such a way that a bundle of light rays can be emitted vertically downwards. The light pump is arranged on the carriage in such a way that it does not follow the pivoting movement of the pivoting arm. The light pump usually includes one or more semiconductor lasers and a heat sink with cooling fins. The light pump is much heavier than the resonator and the optical lens. Since only the resonator and the optical lens are moved and not the light pump 3, the rotational moment of inertia of the swing arm 16 is small.

In this embodiment, the light pump is arranged on the carriage 15 . However, the light pump can also be arranged independently or remotely from the carriage.

This embodiment can also be modified such that a beam guide with reflector elements is provided instead of the light guide. Then the light guide can either be omitted completely or only as far as the carriage if the light pump is located away from the carriage.

An ND:YAG laser is preferably used as the pumped laser and one or more laser diodes with a wavelength of 808 nm are used as the light pump. However, another laser such as a Yb:YAG laser can also be provided.

According to a further embodiment, a beam guide from the light source to the swivel arm 16 is formed by means of a light guide. The light guide is guided from the light source to the swivel arm 16, the light guide being arranged with its end remote from the light source below the swivel arm 16 in the area of the carriage 15. The light guide is connected to the swivel arm 16 in such a way that the light guide is guided along the swivel arm in the area of the carriage 15 and its end remote from the light source points to the free end of the swivel arm 16 . At the free end of the swivel arm 18 there is a reflector element which is designed as a mirror. However, the reflector element can also be represented by other optical elements that deflect a light beam, such as a prism or the like.

A light beam emitted by the light source is transmitted by the light guide and emitted at its end remote from the light source in such a way that the light beam is directed along the swivel arm 16 in the direction of the reflector element, preferably parallel to the swivel arm 16. At the free end of the swivel arm 16 that is second reflector element arranged, which deflects the light beam down onto the processing area. Optionally, an optical lens for focusing the light beam can be provided in the beam path between the end of the light guide and the reflector element. Instead of the optical lens, an objective can also be provided in order to be able to change the degree of bundling of the light beam and/or the reflector element can be designed with a corresponding curvature.

With such an arrangement, a large number of processing heads 17 can be provided, each by means of a swivel arm 16 on a carriage 17 that can be moved along the rail devices 14, with it being ensured that the individual light guides cannot become tangled with one another. This makes it easy to create a 3D printer 1 which has at least eight, preferably at least twelve and in particular at least sixteen processing heads 17, all of which can be subjected to a light beam bundle simultaneously or quasi-simultaneously.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the rail devices 14 and thus also the swivel arms 16 attached to them are arranged at different levels, so that the swivel arms 16 that are arranged on the middle rail device 14 cannot collide with the swivel arms 16 that are arranged on the outer rail devices 14 are. The level of Pivoting arms 16 can also be designed differently if all rail devices are arranged at the same height. This can be accomplished, for example, by attaching the swivel joints to the individual carriages 15 at different heights. However, the rail devices can also all be arranged in one plane.

In the exemplary embodiment explained above, the pivoting arms 16 cannot be adjusted in the vertical direction. Within the scope of the invention, however, it is possible either to provide a device for adjusting the vertical position of the swivel arm 16 on the carriage 15 or to design the rail devices 14 to be adjustable in the vertical position. This can be particularly useful in order to create sufficient space for the movement of the squeegee between the powder bed 12 and the swivel arms 16 when squeegeeing the powder bed 12 using the squeegee 11 and after the squeegee 11 is again outside the area of the powder bed 12, the Swivel arms 16 are lowered in order to arrange the processing heads 17 as close as possible to the surface of the powder 6 located in the powder bed 12 .

The light sources for the individual processing heads 17 can be of identical design and each produce a light beam with the same intensity and the same frequency or the same frequency range. However, it is also possible within the scope of the invention to provide different light sources for the different processing heads, with which light is emitted with different frequencies or frequency ranges and/or with different intensities. Light sources can also be provided with which the wavelength of the light can be tuned over a specific range. Such frequency-tunable lasers are known and usually have a semiconductor amplifier.

An advantage of the present invention is that the multiple processing heads 17 can simultaneously apply light and thus heat to different points of the powder 6 in the powder bed 12 and simultaneously melt or sinter it. As a result, the manufacturing process is parallelized and significantly accelerated compared to conventional 3D printers.

According to a further embodiment, optical distance sensors are used to measure the distances between the reference elements and the distance sensors. Such distance sensors are inexpensive and have a very high resolution. You can use triangulation to determine the distance to the reference element. During triangulation, an optical bundle of rays, for example a laser beam, is focused on the measurement object and observed with a camera, a spatially resolving photodiode or a CCD line located next to it in the distance sensor. If the distance between the measurement object and the sensor changes, the angle at which the point of light is observed also changes, and with it the position of its image on the photo receiver. Out of the change in position, the distance of the object from the laser projector is calculated with the help of the trigonometric function. Distance measurement using triangulation is very simple and inexpensive. If the requirements for accuracy are low, the radiation from a light-emitting diode can also be used as the light beam bundle.

The distance can also be measured by measuring the phase position. When measuring the phase position, an optical beam, for example a laser beam, is emitted. The phase shift of the reflected laser beam compared to the emitted beam depends on the distance. This phase shift can be measured and used to determine the distance traveled. The distance measurement by measuring the phase position has a high level of accuracy.

When measuring distance over the transit time, a short light pulse, a constant light beam or a light modulation is emitted. The pulse transit time is the time it takes for the light beam to travel from the source, to a reflector, and back to the source. By measuring this transit time, the distance between source and object can be determined via the speed of light. Sensors that scan lines or areas or planes, such as stereo cameras for the three-dimensional localization of one or more objects, can also be used to measure the distance. Corresponding sensors do not have to be pivotable due to their large recording area.

Instead of optical sensors, other sensors, such as ultrasonic sensors or sensors that determine the distance using the propagation time of radio waves, can also be used.

Regardless of the type of sensor, the advantage is that the position of the processing heads can be set very precisely thanks to the control loop. This can also be used to determine the position of the machining heads that can only be moved in one plane according to the first exemplary embodiment.

After the start, the actual position of the movable component, for example the processing head 17, can be recorded for precise positioning. For this purpose, the distance between the processing head 17 and the respective distance sensor can be measured. The actual position is detected by measuring the distance using the distance sensors. The actual position of the processing head can be determined in a simple manner from the three distance measurements. If the actual position corresponds to the target position, no further action is required and the component production can be continued. The position of the movable component, for example the processing head 17, can be determined absolutely in space. However, the position of the movable component can also be determined relative to another component. In the latter case, the distance between the two components is determined.

The actual position of the movable component can be controlled in each spatial direction or in relation to each axis individually and one after the other until the target position is reached. However, it is also possible to simultaneously regulate the position of the movable component in all three spatial directions or in relation to all axes.

The distance sensors can be arranged in a stationary manner in the process chamber 2 of the 3D printer 1 . The distance sensors can determine the position of the surface of the powder bed 12 via a distance measurement and then determine the position of a movable component, for example a processing head 17, with the aid of a further distance measurement. Depending on the position of the powder bed 12, ie the height of the powder bed 12, the processing head 17 can be moved into a desired position in order to set a required distance between the processing head 17 and the surface of the powder bed 12. One or more machining heads 17 can be moved to their desired position with the aid of the control and regulation device described above. It is also possible for one or more distance sensors to be connected to or arranged on a processing head 17 and for the distance between the processing head 17 and the powder bed surface to be determined directly in order to then move the processing heads 17 to a target distance from the surface of the powder bed 12 .

If the actual position does not correspond to the target position, then the position of the processing head 17 is modified. For this purpose, a drive can be started and the traversing speed of the processing head 17 can be adjusted as a function of the distance between the actual position and the target position. The smaller the distance between the actual position and the target position, the lower the traversing speed that can be selected. After a specified unit of time and/or a distance covered in a defined manner, the actual position can be recorded again and then modified if necessary. It is also possible to record the actual position continuously. In this way, a closed control loop can be created. This control makes it possible to move the processing head 17 exactly into a desired position with a simple, inexpensive and not very precise movement device. The accuracy of the positioning is determined solely by the distance measurement using the distance sensors. Reference character list

1 3D printer

2 process chamber

3 production facility

4 storage device

5 storage containers

6 powder

7 bottom wall

8 supply piston cylinder unit

9 build platform

10 production piston cylinder unit

11 squeegee

12 powder bed

13 module

14 rail device

15 sleds

16 processing head

17 swivel arm

18 module mount

19 bracket

20 longitudinal

21 coupling device

22 controller

23 horizontal direction

24 production controller

25 scheduling controller

Claims

38 patent claims

1 . Device for the additive manufacturing of components, preferably by means of selective melting or sintering, comprising at least one module with a processing head for directing a light beam onto a processing area, and a swivel arm on which the processing head is arranged, and a carriage on which the swivel arm is rotatably mounted, wherein the module can be moved along a rail device, and a control device in which module parameters can be stored or are stored which define predetermined properties of the module, wherein the control device is set up and designed to control different modules on the basis of the module parameters, so that in the device for Additive manufacturing of components modules can be exchanged and these can preferably be controlled by the control device without further setup procedure.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that a module comprises at least one processing head, at least one swivel arm and at least one carriage, or wherein the module comprises a plurality of processing heads with corresponding swivel arms, carriages and rails.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a module has an identifier that contains the module parameters or an automatic assignment to the module parameters, and in particular different module parameters for different modules can be stored in the device.

4. Planning control device for automatically generating a production flow chart for manufacturing a specific component by means of a device for the additive manufacturing of components, in particular according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the planning control device is set up and configured to, on the basis of CAD data of the component to be manufactured, at least to create a production schedule, characterized in that 39 that the planning control device is set up and designed so that an optimized configuration is determined on the basis of the CAD data of the component to be manufactured, and a production flow chart is created using the optimized configuration, with several production flow charts being created in particular for different configurations of the device for additive manufacturing , in which the different configurations are defined by means of different module parameters, so that one of the several production schedules can be selected with regard to the parameters production time and/or product quality.

5. Planning control device according to claim 4, characterized in that the planning control device is set up and designed to automatically select a production flow plan according to predetermined parameters.

6. Device for additive manufacturing according to one of claims 1 to 3 or planning control device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the module parameters include a different number and/or a different type of pivoting arms, in particular with regard to a length and/or a pivoting range, and a different type and positioning of rail devices in a process chamber, in particular with regard to an X or Y direction parallel to a construction platform and preferably in a Z direction and thus a height orthogonal to the construction platform, and/or a different type of slide, in particular with regard to structural design, and/or a different type of processing heads, in particular with regard to an intensity or temperature, and/or a different number of processing heads per rail device.

7. Device for additive manufacturing according to one of Claims 1 to 3 or planning control device according to one of Claims 4 to 6, characterized in that in the production control device and/or the planning control device different control parameters comprising different travel speeds or accelerations for slides and swivel arms and/or different Printing speeds and/or different intensities or temperatures for the processing heads are stored, which can be selected automatically and/or manually based on the components used, in particular the modules of the device and/or based on blueprints for components. 40

8. Device for additive manufacturing according to one of claims 1 to 3 or planning control device according to one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that modules with a larger number of carriages per rail device have processing heads with shorter swivel arms and modules with a smaller number of carriages have longer swivel arms per rail device.

9. Device for additive manufacturing according to one of claims 1 to 3 or planning control device according to one of claims 4 to 8, characterized in that two or more rail devices are designed to be movable.

10. Device for additive manufacturing according to one of claims 1 to 3 or planning control device according to one of claims 4 to 9, characterized in that the control device according to claims 1 to 3 is a production control device and wherein this control device also comprises the planning control device and in this way forms the control device.

11 . Device for additive manufacturing according to one of Claims 1 to 3 or planning control device according to one of Claims 4 to 10, characterized in that at least one distance sensor for preferably electro-optical distance measurement is provided in order to optically monitor the position of the processing heads.

12. Method for calculating an optimal configuration of a device for the additive manufacturing of components, in particular for use in a device for additive manufacturing according to one of claims 1 to 3 or for creating the optimal configuration with a planning control device according to one of claims 4 to 11, characterized characterized in that comprising the following steps:

Reading in CAD data of a component to be manufactured (from component data)

Determining the local labor requirements in each shift, and

Determining an optimal configuration of modules according to a processing need of all layers.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that the optimal configuration is created by

Short swivel arms are assigned to pressure areas with a large accumulation of material, and/or by

Printing areas with small surfaces are assigned a small number of processing heads, and / or by

Print areas with small surface can be assigned long swivel arms.

14. Method for the additive manufacturing of components, preferably by means of selective melting or sintering, method for calculating an optimal configuration of a device for the additive manufacturing of components, in particular using a device for additive manufacturing according to one of claims 1 to 3 or by means of a production flow chart, made with a scheduling controller according to any one of claims 4 to 11, comprising the following steps

Activation of different modules according to a production flow plan using the control device based on the module parameters, without further setup procedure after a change in the configuration of a device for additive manufacturing.

15. A method for generating a production flow plan for manufacturing a specific component by means of a planning control device for a device for the additive manufacturing of components, in particular according to one of claims 1 to 3,

Reading in CAD data of the component to be manufactured,

Creating at least one production flow chart using the planning control device based on the CAD data of the component to be manufactured,

Creation of different configurations of the modules of the device for additive manufacturing of components, and on the basis of this,

Creation of several production flow plans, the production flow plans being defined by means of different module parameters of the device for additive manufacturing of components, and selection of a production flow plan based on production time and/or product quality and/or quantity, with the production plan and/or the configuration suitable for this being output .

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that that a different configuration causes a change in the components, in particular the modules, a change in the application speed in some areas, with this change in the application speed causing a change in the arrangement or positioning of the processing heads and the processing areas assigned to them and/or a change in the number of processing heads in different areas is.